Apple and Samsung have been fined millions of euros each by Italian authorities over "planned obsolescence" in smartphones.

Apple was hit with a 10 million euro (£8.8m) fine while Samsung received a smaller bill of five million euros.


"Apple and Samsung implemented unfair commercial practices", the Italian competition authority said in a statement.


Software updates were said to have slowed the performance of older phones.


This "caused serious malfunctions and significantly reduced performance", which provoked users into upgrading their devices, the authority said.
The companies encouraged users to upgrade operating system software but did not make clear the increased demands that new software would make on smartphones, according to the authority.




BBC     News.